Showtime

Austin's greatest spectacularly weird and talented entertainers

By Sam Sumpter | Portraits by Cody Hamilton

Published: May 2, 2014

Fearless, outrageous and provocative, the following five acts—a drag queen, a burlesque troupe, a freak show ensemble, a comedian with “scales” for skin and a sexy storytelling trio—push the boundaries of the city’s live entertainment scene. They don’t just keep Austin’s stages weird, they keep them tawdry and downright fun.

Erik Sprague | The Lizardman

Twenty years and 700 hours. That’s how much time it took Erik Sprague to turn himself into The Lizardman. And having green scales with an insurance value of $250,000 tattooed all over his body isn’t the only thing he’s done. He’s also had his teeth filed into fangs and had five Teflon “horns” implanted above each brow. He’s even undergone a bifurcation procedure to achieve the ultimate reptilian signature: the forked tongue.

When it comes to his transformation, besides the how, there’s another thing people always wonder: the why. “It’s just an aesthetic choice,” Sprague says. “It comes down to when you’re picking out a suit—whether it’s for the afternoon or the rest of your life—and this is the one that feels right.”

The Lizardman doesn’t rely on his looks alone. He’s also the frontman of a band called Lizard Skynard, performs stand-up and boasts four dozen sideshow acts in his repertoire, including sword swallowing and pulling trucks with his pierced earlobes (the world’s strongest, for the record). All are designed for entertainment—for both the audience and Sprague himself. “I’m trying to get through life having as much fun as I can,” he explains, “while simultaneously spreading the extra fun around to everybody else.”

Bedpost Confessions | Sexy Storytellers

Let’s talk about sex. That’s the premise behind BedPost Confessions, a storytelling show aiming to educate and captivate audiences with between-the-sheets tales that run the gamut from poignant and heartbreaking to hysterical and in-your-face shocking. “In the sex world, a lot of people are kinky, there are a lot of people who swing, there are a lot of people in open relationships,” says co-founder Julie Gillis. ”But nobody really talks about it.”

Gillis and co-conspirators Sadie Smythe, Mia Martina and Rosie Q. (who’s no longer with the show) joined forces in 2010 to provide a platform where sex could be discussed openly and honestly. This communication takes form in both onstage storytelling by performers, often the founders themselves, and the reading of audience members’ submitted confessions, which entertain and foster a judgment-free, sex-positive environment. “It’s lifting the taboo, lifting the shame,” Smythe says. “You get to peek under the covers at somebody else’s story and go, ‘Oh, I’m not alone.’”

And along with providing a genuine, humanizing experience through their performances at The North Door on the third Thursday of every month, the ladies also bring plenty of laughs. “We’re a good time,” promises Gillis. “Tell your friends.”

999 Eyes Freakshow | Sideshow Performers

The story of the 999 Eyes Freakshow & Surreal Sideshow begins with its five founders—accordion player Dylan Blackthorn, Samantha X, a lobster girl, an elephant man and a dancing dwarf—and the desire to create a freak show. “There was a need for performance that was outside the box,” says “freak momma” Samantha X. “And the need of the mainstream to have an icon to help them realize that the strange and the bizarre are beautiful.”

This embracement of “freaks” and celebration of diversity attracted the attention of others, including the group's musical director, Doctor Sick, and Black Scorpion, who met the crew, “fell down the rabbit hole” and penned the scripted show as it exists today. “I felt like a freak growing up,” says Black Scorpion, who, due to a genetic condition called ectrodactyly, was born with six fingers and six toes. “So for me, it was taking the labels and making them our own; turning preconceived negatives into positives.”

The result? A dazzling vaudeville-like show where characters travel through time and wield their anomalies not as the focus but as tools used to get a bigger message across: one of love, acceptance and diversity. “I think our show tends to make people who thought they were strange feel normal,” says Blackthorn, “and people who thought they were normal realize that normal doesn’t exist.”

The Jigglewatts | Burlesque Stars

When Coco Lectric started the Jigglewatts while studying at Texas State, it was all about sisterhood and female empowerment. “Jiggle is something we’ve got as natural women,” Coco explains. “And we’re going to consider that a power of ours…the wattage.” But it wasn’t until an encounter with Ruby Joule—on the set of a zombie movie musical, no less—that the idea of empowerment took form in performance, and the Jigglewatts burlesque troupe was born.

Now, eight years later, founders Coco and Ruby are world-renowned performers, as decorated with awards and titles as they are with glitter. The ladies, along with other Jigglewatts members and their boa-donning male emcee, Jade, can be seen every Friday night at the Gibson Lounge, starring in the longest continuously running burlesque show in Austin. Their choreographed performances combine striptease, song and even comedy with a focus on two themes: sensuality and spectacle. And while performers typically strip down to a G-string and pasties (which Coco stores in a Spiderman lunch box), there is an art to it all. “It’s the tease,” Coco says. “There’s a wink and a smile involved, a connection with the audience.”

“Conceals and reveals,” Ruby adds. “But the through-line is that something is going to come off. Otherwise, it’s just jazz.”

Paul Soileau | Drag Queen

With his extensive theater background and impressive makeup-application skills, Paul Soileau has made a living painting up and acting out as both the platinum-haired darling Rebecca Havemeyer and the raw, animalistic rock star CHRISTEENE. It’s a career that he says he just “kind of fell into” 11 years ago.

His two best-known personas—who couldn’t be more different from each other—have helped him become a fixture in Austin’s drag scene. He describes Rebecca as more of a best-friend type who, drink in hand, hosts fundraisers and events like the monthly Shitty Kitty Big Ball Bingo at Rain. Meanwhile, CHRISTEENE (pictured), who is the more vulgar of the two, rocks it out onstage all over the world. As the frontwoman of her own band, she wows, delights and undoubtedly offends during her explosive sets, which typically involve screaming, kicking, punching and X-rated amounts of nudity.

When he’s not in drag, the Louisiana-bred Soileau is an actor, performing with groups like the Rude Mechs, who had a production at Lincoln Center in New York City earlier this year. But his heart belongs to his alter egos, both of whom are a simple mental transformation for Soileau to make. “It’s voice, it’s posture—you’re just turning on a character,” he explains. “But you need a wig. Once the hair’s on, you’re there.”